Tom Tom One, two, three?

Old news from an international point of view (US got this a couple of weeks back) but now Europe and the UK will have the pleasure of the smartly re-designed TomTom One. But for whatever reason its not totally straight forward. You see the TomTom One (the original) isn't going anywhere, in fact its still on the site and more expensive then the new TomTom One. Possible reasons include the different processor speeds (slower in the new unit). In addition to this, there are two flavours of TomTom One (new) a local version and a Euro version, with maps to suit.

Regardless this has got to be one of the sexiest and slimmest top notch navigators out there. My personal experience with the original TomTom One has been a fantastic one, a complete liberation for someone who equates Up and Down the country with my personal altitude and direction at that particular time, homing pigeon I am not.

Tags: TomTom, GPS, Sat Nav, in-car navigation system, gadget, satellite navigation, maps

Opinion: Is Sony heading for big trouble?

I'm worried about Sony. I think they could be about to have a couple of big disasters on their hands - the PS3 and Blu-ray.

I'm particularly worried about the PS3; it's complicated to manufacture, very expensive, a year behind the Xbox 360, has no killer games for launch, very negative press from practically all quarters, is inextricably linked to the fate of Blu-ray (which may turn out to be good or bad) and will be launched around the same time as perhaps the most innovative and interesting console ever - the Nintendo Wii.

This comes on the back of other recent failures for Sony - they've been stomped on by Apple in the digital music player space and Nintendo in the portable gaming space. Frankly, they can ill-afford either the PS3 or Blu-ray to fail, yet I can't help thinking that public opinion appears so against them, it could be an inevitability.

You only have to go and read the press articles or the comments on other gadget blogs to realise that people are very skeptical of Sony's strategy now.

They haven't exactly got a stellar record when it comes to media formats either, we all know the story of Betamax but what about UMD more recently? And Blu-ray, like the PS3, is going to be later and more expensive than HD-DVD, it's competitor.

I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to hurt each other mind you, it's not quite as clear cut as the console wars. I think consumers will be very nervous to commit to either format until they are confident that it won't become obsolete in a year's time. But my personal preference at the moment is for HD-DVD - it appears to have superior picture quality and is cheaper.

Of course, Sony have been banking on the PS3 being a Trojan horse for Blu-ray, sneakily getting it into millions of households without consumers even really realising it. But I'm not sure this is actually going to happen. I think people are going to look at the lacklustre launch lineup of games for the PS3 and it's horrendous price tag and think "I could have a 360 and a Wii and get the best of both worlds for the same price as the PS3".

The 360 has already sold 6 million or so units and is on target for 10 million in the not too distant future, that's a massive lead over both Nintendo and Sony.

After a downbeat start the Wii has gained a surprisingly big following in the gaming community and there appears to be real excitement and great anticipation for the launch. People can't wait to get their hands on it and try the motion sensing controller and fun new gameplay styles.

The DS has proved that graphics and technical supremacy aren't everything - people want interesting, innovative and involving games. The DS has delivered that in spades but the PSP has seen far more than its fair share of derivative, lazy PS2 ports.

Yes, it's technically superior to the DS, has much better graphics, can play movies and music but people don't necessarily want all that, they just want to play great games.

I think the PS3 is making the same mistake, they're trying the PSP strategy again - they assume that by making it technically superior and cramming Blu-ray into it that it will win. Well I don't think it will.

I think the Wii is in a class of it's own and a lot of people will buy one in addition to either a 360 or a PS3; that means that the Wii could actually outsell both of the others and potentially the PS3 could come third. What a fall from grace that would be.

I don't envy Sony's position right now, they are up against one of the most innovative companies in the world with Nintendo and one of the richest with Microsoft. What a bad combination.

And as for Blu-ray Vs. HD-DVD, well the jury's out on that one, maybe they'll both fail or people will become less interested in physical media as Apple, Amazon and others launch proper movie download services?

Only time will tell, it's certainly interesting to watch but Sony have so much riding on these two pieces of their strategy, I dread to think what will happen if they've got it wrong.

Sources:
Joystiq
DS fanboy
The Guardian
Joystiq
Gamasutra
The Register
Engadget
Joystiq
HDTV UK

Tags: sony, ps3, wii, xbox360, ds, psp, hd, highdefinition, blu-ray, hd-dvd, gaming, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

New Canon 400D 10.1 megapixel DSLR

Update: Canon today confirmed the 400D (XTi in the US), specs as below.

Looks like Canon are releasing a new DSLR, the 400D. It cropped up on the Canon China site for a while but appears to have been removed now.

The specs are as follows:

• 10.1 megapixel CMOS
• 2.5-inch LCD
• 9 point focus system
• Fast 0.2 second start-up time
• 3fps 27 frame burst
  
• 1600 ISO setting
• DIGIC II processor
• Integrated Self Cleaning Sensor Unit
• Software to delete any dust left over
  

Canon certainly needed to move to counter Nikon's new D80 and this successor to the 350D looks like a worthy update.

Tags: canon, dslr, camera, 400d, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

1080p TVs from Toshiba, with a twist...

Everyone seems to be releasing 1080p TVs these days. Now Toshiba has announced updated REGZA LCD TVs.

The top 3 of the Z2000 series can handle the higher 1920 x 1080 resolution in 37, 42 and 47 inch variants. Their specs stand out from the crowd though with the 3 HDMI ports, 2 FireWire and 3 Ethernet ports.

Ethernet? Yup, apparently, they can playback content from a PC or a new Toshiba media server over your network.

It's an interesting concept I must admit and I wonder if it will catch on with other manufacturers. If it does, it kind of reduces the need for Mac minis and media centre PCs attached to TVs in the normal way, all you would need is some network attached storage.

Via HD Beat.

Tags: hd, high definition, toshiba, 1080p, regza, ethernet, hdmi, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

Sony BRAVIA KDL-46XBR2 review

Ultimate AV have a great, very detailed review of the Sony BRAVIA KDL-46XBR2 LCD TV (known as KDL-46X2000 in the UK).

Being a 1080p capable beast, I was very interested to read it. Sounds like it's pretty excellent for an LCD as well. Worth a read if you're in the market for a top of the range HDTV at the moment.

If I had to buy a TV tomorrow, this one might well be it.

Update: Added UK link.

Tags: hd, high definition, hdtv, 1080p, sony, bravia, 46xbr2, 46x2000, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

HD: 1080i vs 1080p

Can you tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p? Does that even mean anything to you? The debate is raging over at HDBeat and Home Theatre mag.

Basically, it boils down to the difference in the way the picture is scanned (displayed) on your TV. The i or p at the end means it is either scanned interlaced or progressively.

Essentially the difference between the two is that with an interlaced format the picture you see is scanned to the screen in alternating lines, so in any single scan the tv will only get half of the lines of the picture. Then in the next pass the alternate lines are scanned. The perception by humans is that the picture is complete because this all happens so quickly.

Progressive scan differs to this in that it scans all the lines at once, thus giving a clearer and flicker-free picture.

In theory then, progressive scan is superior to interlaced. But (and this is where the arguments start) most HDTVs like LCDs and plasmas for example, can't physically display an interlaced picture (only traditional CRT TVs can do this), so what they actually do when presented with an interlaced picture is de-interlace it and convert it into a progressive picture! So the argument goes that there is no difference between 1080i and 1080p because your HDTV will convert the 1080i signal into a 1080p signal anyway!

But it's the complications with de-interlacing that cause the problems, some TVs don't even do it correctly; you can actually end up with less resolution than you started with. And there are many other factors that effect the perceived quality of the picture; from the TV's refresh rate to the way the picture is outputted from your device (e.g. HD-DVD or Blu-ray player). You only have to read the comments in the linked articles above to realise how many factors there are.

High definition is a quagmire of specifications, misinformation, interpretations and subjective opinions. So, how does the average consumer cut through all the hyperbole and crap? Well, not easily is the honest answer.

I do think it's fair to say that the average consumer probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p, for most people a decent HDTV that processes any standard def or HD signal properly will be more than satisfactory. But the real enthusiasts will need to sit and wait until all of these theories can be put to the test, HD is still too much in its infancy.

At the end of the day, the best thing the average consumer can do is read lots of reviews and go and see the TVs for themselves. Before buying ask the shop to help you set them up and fiddle around with them with various sources that you will actually be using (e.g. Sky HD, HD-DVD or Blu-ray) and see which TV you think is best. You're the one that has to live with it, so you decide what's best for you.

Tags: hd, high definition, 1080i, 1080p, hd-dvd, blu-ray, hdtv, schmadget, gadgets, tech, technology, scb

RSS / Atom feed has changed!

Just a quick post to ask that if you subscribed to the feed for Schmadget before Wednesday last week, please can you change it!

The new feed URL is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/schmadget

or

feed://feeds.feedburner.com/schmadget


I changed it to use FeedBurner to get some extra features like post to del.icio.us and email links in the feed, as well as other stuff.

So, please update your feed reader!

Thanks a lot for reading!

Ultra-slim Casio EXILIM Card EX-S770

There seems to be a plethora of new cameras at the moment, this time it's the ultra-slim Casio EXILIM Card EX-S770.

It has a 7.2 megapixel resolution and a 2.8" inch LCD but it's an unbelievable 17mm thin and only weighs 127g. That's pretty incredibly thin.

Impressive stuff. If this takes good pictures too, it could just be my next new (ultra) compact. Looks pretty sweet as well.

Tags: camera, casio, digital, exilim, compact, schmadget, gadgets, tech, technology, scb

Nikon D80 10.2 megapixel SLR

The replacement for the very successful D70/D70s has finally been announced today. The D80 features a new high resolution 10.2 megapixel CCD, improved 11 area auto-focus, a larger and brighter 2.5 inch LCD display, powerful new image processing and metering, configurable auto and high ISO settings and other improvements, many of which are passed down from the pro level cameras.

They've also switched from Compact Flash to SD/SD-HC memory card support with the new camera, leaving Compact Flash for the pros. The D80 is also a bit smaller and lighter than the D70s.

Overall it looks like a great evolution of the D70s and is no doubt set to be as popular. Digital Photograhy review have a typically excellent, detailed preview of the camera (that they've been using for a couple of weeks already, lucky them).

Looks like Canon have some catching up to do, I wonder how long it will be before we see a new version of the 350D?

Tags: nikon, d80, camera, slr, digital, canon, 350d, schmadget, gadgets, tech, technology, scb

WWDC: The aftermath

A day after the event it's time to look at the announcements in the cold light of day. There has been a lot written about it, some of which I think is strange, some of it great.

First of all, let's just recap what this conference is called - Worldwide Developers Conference. Note the word 'developers'.

A few people have said to me and I've read all over the place that they were a bit disappointed blah blah. Why? We pretty much knew what was coming, it was always going to be a preview of Leopard and almost a guaranteed announcement that the Intel transition was over, with the introduction of the new Mac Pro and Xserves - and that's exactly what happened.

It's not a consumer show, that's Paris expo next month. So, yes it would have been lovely to have had a new iPod nano, an iPhone, a media centre Mac etc. etc. but the fact that they weren't announced isn't disappointing, it's realistic. If Apple released these amazing products at every show, they'd run out of them pretty quickly.

We still did get some amazing products though. The Mac Pros are awesome machines, really. Incredibly powerful, the likes of which haven't really been available to the everyday consumer before (OK maybe not everyday consumer, you will need the deficit of a small country to be able to get a highly specced one - I got it up to £11,ooo maxing everything out with dual 30" displays!!).

And Leopard. I was genuinely impressed by Time Machine particularly and also Spaces and the other features mentioned. Steve did say that these were just the things they were showing now, it's not the complete new feature list, it's just a sample. There's more to come people!

So when I read articles like this one over at Stuff magazine, it makes me wonder why they bother. Time Machine and Spaces are impressive and innovative. I mean, what more do they want? The hanging gardens of Babylon? Heards of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the desktop perhaps?

People expect too much. Of course, Apple are partly to blame for this with the hype that's generated with their 'special' events but people also blow it out of proportion.

I'm pleased with what we saw and excited about what we didn't see. At least some people agree with me. There's much more to come from Leopard over the next 6 months and for the consumer gadget freaks, I'm sure that Paris expo in September will usher in the new iPods and whatever else they have up their sleeves. Personally, I can't wait for an 8GB nano.

Far more worryingly, people are talking about the possibility that Steve Jobs is ill or maybe losing his touch. I'd say that's way more reason for investors to get jittery. I'm reserving judgement on this one but watch this space...

Updated: typos.

Tags: apple, wwdc, leopard, mac, osx, steve jobs, mac pro, xserve, ipod, opinion, analysis, review, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

Leopard leaps ahead

Steve Jobs previewed the new version of the Apple operating system earlier today, Mac OS X Leopard, the sixth major version of Mac OS X.

There are some revolutionary new features built into Leopard, the most intertesting of which are Time Machine and Spaces.


Time Machine is an automatic backup utility built into the operating system. What's really clever about it is it's ability to auto-save any content on your computer to an external hard-drive or server.

The user can then use an innovative interface to visually 'warp' (see above) through time to view and restore a single file right through to entire photo albums or even the entire system.


Spaces enables you to create multiple, virtual desktops to organise all of your open applications. So, for example, you could create a collection of open web pages and an instance of iChat in one 'space'; have PhotoShop and Illustrator open in another 'space'; iTunes and Mail in a third 'space' and then quickly and easily switch between them.

Think of it as application switching for desktops.

Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, said "Breakthrough features like Time Machine and Spaces are good examples of how Mac OS X leads the industry in operating system innovation. While Microsoft tries to copy the version of OS X we shipped a few years ago, we're leaping ahead again with Leopard".

Indeed, these features do seem way ahead of what Microsoft will be able to offer when the oft-delayed Vista is finally released.

Other features in Leopard to get an overhaul include iChat, Spotlight, Mail, Dashboard, Boot Camp, Front Row and Photo Booth.

See Apple's new 'Leopard Sneak Peek' site for more detail and some QuickTime movies of some of the new features.

Tags: apple, wwdc, mac, leopard, preview, osx, time machine, spaces, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

Apple intros quad 64-bit Mac Pro, Xserve

Apple has announed the Mac Pro (pictured left) with two dual-core Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processors at up to 3GHz. That's a total of four cores for a supremely powerful 64-bit workstation, supposedly twice as fast as it's G5 predecessor.

The system accommodates up to 2TB of storage, 16GB of RAM, two SuperDrives (that can be used simultaneously) and up to four GeForce 7300 GT graphics cards or optionally ATI Radeon X1900 XT and NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 cards are available.

Wow. You're going to have to be doing some serious stuff with one of these to even touch the sides.

The new Xserves come similarly equipped with two dual-core Xeon processors at up 3GHz, for that happy quad-core feeling. With up to 2.25TB storage, two eight-lane PCI Express slots, dual onboard Gigabit Ethernet, a combo drive and a claimed 5x performance boost over the Xserve G5 that all fits in a 1U rackmount, this is a killer server.

What more can you say, I think the specs speak for themselves, these are some seriously powerful, industry-leading computers. We'll see in due course when people start doing some benchmarks.

Check out the Apple site for the full details:

Mac Pro
Xserve

Tags: apple, wwdc, mac, mac pro, xserve, xeon, woodcrest, 64-bit, quad, intel, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

Apple rips into Vista

OK, so the next couple of days, the whole internet is going to be taken up by posts about Apple, you have been warned.

WWDC day has finally arrived and the Steve Jobs keynote speech is due at 10am PDT, 5pm GMT, 6pm BST today.

A few keen Apple watchers have been taking photos of the Moscone exhibition centre where it will all take place. Apple isn't mucking around and is clearly making Vista their main target.

There are various flickr accounts floating around with loads of pics of banners depicting slogans such as "Mac OS X Leopard, Introducing Vista 2.0" and "Mac OS X Leopard, Hasta la Vista, Vista". Nice work.

Check out MacRumorsLive.com at 6pm tonight (UK) for a minute by minute update of the event.

Tags: apple, wwdc, mac, osx, leopard, rumours, vista, flickr

Mario Kart DS gets 6 Golden Joystick nominations

Ahhh, the Nintendo DS. It's going from strength to strength these days outselling the PSP in most regions. It's the fastest selling console ever in Japan, with massive selling games and now, as if to confirm what we already knew, loads of nominations in the Golden Joystick Awards 2006.

Mario Kart DS leads the way with 6 nominations in all, including Handheld Game of the Year, Nuts All-Nighter Award, Nintendo Game of the Year and Online Game of the Year. Other DS titles are well represented as well including Animal Crossing: Wild World, New Super Mario Bros., Metroid Prime: Hunters and Nintendogs amongst others.

The awards were first held in 1982, when Atari, Commodore and Spectrum vied for the gaming top spot. Promising to be bigger than ever, the Golden Joystick Awards 2006 will feature 17 award categories and are the only UK gaming awards to be voted for by those who matter – gamers themselves!

The final results of the Golden Joystick Awards will be unveiled on Friday, 27th October 2006.

So go and vote for your favourite games and consoles at www.goldenjoysticks.co.uk

Via the BBC.

Tags: gaming, nintendo, ds, mario kart, handheld, awards

Apple WWDC rumour roundup

OK, so it's that time of year again. Apple rumours abound with the prospect of the Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) and a Steve Jobs keynote speech on the 7th August only a few days away.

The rumour mill has been pumping them out as you would expect, so below is a summary of the main threads.

1. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
   
   OK so this isn't really a rumour, we know there's going to be a showing of the next version of the Apple operating system but what we don't know is what the update will include. Virtualisation? Enhanced finder, spotlight, iChat and safari? New iCal? More on the details over at AppleInsider.
   
   
2. Mac Pro and Xserve?
   
   The last remaining PowerPC offerings from Apple are due to be launched with new Intel processors. But which ones? Xenon for the Xserves and Core 2 Duo for the Mac Pros?
   
   
3. Macbook Pro and iMac updated with Core 2 Duo?
   
   With the launch of the new Intel Core 2 Duo chips only a week ago, it seems likely that Apple will go for an update to the higher end computers currently running the Intel Core Duo chips. But will they announce it at WWDC or later, maybe at Paris expo?
   
   
4. New cinema displays?
   
   We're into the less likely bracket here as far as I'm concerned but it is possible that with new Mac Pros, we'd also get new cinema displays. Built in iSight and IR ports for Apple remotes?
   
   
5. iPhone? iChat mobile?
   
   OK, now we're talking. The long-rumoured, highly anticipated, so-called "iPhone" has seen a lot of attention lately on the rumour mill. Apple have even eluded to the fact that they're making one. We just don't know when they'll announce it. With WWDC traditionally focussing more on Macs, maybe this is a little too soon but you never know!
   
   
6. iPod updates?
   
   Neither the nanos or full-sized iPods have been updated since they were introduced last year. It's surely only a matter of time before the nano at least gets bumped up to 8GB. I must admit, I've been holding off buying a nano and sticking with my 4g iPod until they release one with higher capacity. As for the 30 and 60GB iPods, we may see a slight capacity bump but the rumours go that the highly anticipated "real" video iPod, possibly with touch screen, has been delayed until later in the year or maybe even early next year.
   
   I think iPods may come at the more consumer orientated Paris expo in September rather than here but frankly, a baboon's guess is as good as mine.

No doubt Apple will surprise us all and announce something no-one expected. That's the beauty of it, you never know what they've got up their sleeve (can anyone say iTablet?). I can't wait!

Add your comments below and let us know what you think Apple is going to say and do next week!

Tags: apple, rumours, wwdc, mac, osx, leopard, iphone, ipod, macbook, macbook pro, imac

New digicams from Sony and Pentax

Sony today announced the 7-megapixel Cyber-Shot DSC-T10 digital camera. It's got a (pretty much standard these days) 2.5 inch LCD and 3x optical zoom lens. And with the increasingly common optical image stabilisation and high ISO (1000) as well. Comes in a choice of colours too - black, white, silver and pink!

Pentax announced the new Optio S7 last week as well. This also features a 7-megapixel sensor with a "Blur Reduction mode" high sensitivity setting - up to ISO 1600 (only at 4 mp though). Some new Face Recognition AF & AE for "photos of people with perfectly focused faces" has been thrown in for good measure along with a DivX Movie Mode and support for the latest SDHC memory card format.

Tags: sony, pentax, camera, optio, cyber-shot, digital, digicam, dsc-t10, optio s7

Segway Centaur, step forward or back?

There is something about the Segway that I like. I don't know what it is - maybe its a childhood dream of being Johnny Five, but I've always thought they were neat.

Living in the UK they're a rare sight, but on an Orlando holiday last year, I watched as the security in the parks whizzed around on them - I was tired from walking around all day so this made me especially envious.

But this is the Segway concept, called Centaur and you can catch a neat video of it at YouTube. Is this an improvement over the two wheeled version? Well I'm not sure, it seems more versatile and its more quad like appearance might help it to be more widely accepted -but then isnt it kind of against the whole two wheeled, up right approach that makes the Seqway interesting? Perhaps though this version will catch on better as except for the odd President and Park Security the current Segway's hardly a roaring success.